Rain trough devices

ABSTRACT

A drain-spout is provided which communicates with the rain gutter of a building from the outside wall thereof with the rain gutter near the upper portion thereof as well as the bottom, in order to drain water from the surface of the rain gutter. The down-spout extends angularly and downwardly to deliver the water to a point spaced outwardly from the rain gutter so as to prevent the dripping of water onto any sidewalk beneath the eaves. The down-spout is enclosed in an outer enclosure which is heated by the sun rays or by auxiliary means.

United States Patent [191 Franzmeier RAIN TROUGH DEVICES [76] Inventor: Alvin W Franzmeier, 1042 Jenks Ave., St. Paul, Minn. 55106 22 Filed: Dec. 7, 1970 21 Appl.N0.: 95,610

' [52] US. Cl. ..l38/32, l26/27l.l, 137/119,

165/47 [51] Int. Cl. ..E03b 7/12, F161 53/00 [58] Field of Search.....52/ll, l6, l2, l5; l26/271.l; 138/27, 32, 33; 165/47; 219/535;.248/48.l,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,137,097 6/1964 Zeinetz ..52/ll X 675,106 5/1901 ,Oberle.....

30,934 12/1860 Selden 1 Feb. 13, 1973 3/1938 Spilsbury ..52/1 1 X 2,1 1 1,251 3,120,600 2/1964 True ..l38/32 X 3,207,21 l 9/1965 Winterfeldt [65/47 Primary Examiner-Houston S. Bell, Jr.

- Attorney-Robert M. Dunning [5 7] ABSTRACT A drain-spout is provided which communicates with the rain gutter of a building from the outside wall thereof with the rain gutter near the upper portion thereof as well as the bottom, in order to drain water from the surface of the rain gutter. The down-spout extends angularly and downwardly to deliver the'water to a point spaced outwardly from the rain gutter so as to prevent the dripping of water onto any sidewalk beneath the eaves. The down-spout is enclosed in an outer enclosure which is heated by the sun rays or by auxiliary means.

11 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEBIIB I975 3.716.076 SHEU 10F 2 ALI/11v W FlPANZMf/l-R BY @g PAIENIEDFEB 13 I975 SHEET 2 0F 2 15a. 9 BY INVENT OR '44 w/v W FlPA/VIME/ER gmm Gamma ternate freezingandthawing in cold weather.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In cold climates, the snow on the roofs of the houses has a tendency to thaw due to the escape of heat through the roof, particularly when the temperature is not greatly below the freezing point. The water thus produced causes drains into the rain gutter at the lower I edge of the'eaves, and some of the water tends to flow downwardly through the down spouts connected to the gutter. However, as the temperature lowers, this water tends to freeze, and after a few days of alternate thawing and freezing, the downwardly extending down spouts have a tendency to freeze up. The water in the lower portion of the rain gutter also tends to freeze up,

and often time the entire gutter becomes filled with ice.

When the rain gutters become filled with ice, water flowing down the eave from the root causes the water to backup under the shingle which'often causes a serious damage within the house. Water backing up in the manner described causes the paint and wallpaper, and often even the plaster to be stained, loosened or otherwise damaged. Furthermore, this water often drains into the outside 'walls of the house, causing damage both to the interior and exterior'of these walls. Even when the gutter thaws enough to cause a flow of water, the down spout often remains frozen at its lower end, preventing the water from draining.

A further difficulty which often occurs under the conditions mentioned is that of the water from snow melting upon the roof overflows the gutters and drips or drains downwardly. As the eaves of the house usually extend over sidewalks leading about the houses,

, the water dripping from the gutters often causes a buildup of ice upon the sidewalks which is extremely difficult to remove and which makes such walks hazardous to use. Furthermore, the buildup of ice beneath the eaves causes aseepage in water into the .ground as the ice thaws, often causing water to flow. into subsurface basements and the like, creating additional problems. I

Day by day thawing builds upa hump of ice over'the gutter and on the edge of the roof or the over-hang of the house causes a thickness of ice preventing the flow of water either to the rain gutter or over the same. This causes water to be trapped above the edges of the eaves, which works back below the shingles and into the eaves orinto the wall adjoining the eaves. It will be understood that while the shingles normally cause the water to-flow off of the eaves, a back-up of. water can cause the water to flow beneath the shingles when preventedfrom draining off. It should be also un-,

derstood thatwhen the drains and down spouts are filled, the water flowing over the rain gutters runs over sidewalks below'andbuilds up ice thereupon. It should r of any length which will permit the water to flow freely from the house.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention resides in the provision of a drain connected to the rain gutter to slope outwardly and downwardly therefrom at a gentle angle. This drain normally extends through the side of the rain gutter rather than through the bottom thereof.

As a result, if the water builds up in the bottom of the rain gutter, and freezes solidly therein, the water can still flow through the drain up until the time the rain gutter is virtually filled with water. With this arrangement, it is not necessary for all of the ice in the rain gutter to melt before the water may flow through the down spout.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a construction of the type described in which the outwardly and downwardly inclined drain may extend over the sidewalk extending along the periphery of the house so as to cause any buildup of ice to be formed outwardly of the sidewalk. If desired, the end of the inclined drain may be supported by a supporting post extending outwardly from the ground outwardly of the sidewalk. The drain may be furthersupported by suitable brace means angling outwardly from the wall of the house. i

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a drain adapter which may be in the form of a short section of the gutter which fits between adjoining sections of the gutter with the usual slip joints which may be soldered or frictionally sealed. This auxiliary section of gutter is preferably provided with a flat inclined central portion having an aperture thereto.

The drain communicates with this aperture to receive liquid therefrom.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of an inclined drain enclosed within an outer sleeve which forms a heated chamber encircling the drain when the rays of the sun are directed upon the outer sleeve. The outer sleeve may, if desired, be insulated on the underside of the sleeve, and on the right angularly extending side thereof which 'is least subjected to exposure to the sun. The top of the sleeve, and the South or West side of the sleeve may be left uninsulated so that heat may be absorbed through the .wall to heat the chamber encircling the drain. The outer sleeve extends beneath a portion of the rain gutter, heating the outlet area thereof.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a structure of the type described which may be provided with auxiliary heating means controlled either by an automatic timer or by a remote control switch, and which may heat thesleeve encircling the drain to a temperature above the freezing point. Heating cables of this type may also be used in portions of the gutter and roof eaves adjoining the drain. By heating the sleeve and encircling the drain, the drain must function to discharge any water which it receives, thus permitting the flow of melted snow and ice through the drain once it enters the same.

.tion of the section being A further feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the sleeve enclosing the drain preferably gutter and include an integral hollow portion extending over the front edge of the rain gutter. These chambers may either be separate units inserted into the gutter, or

' I. may be built into the gutter. The purpose of this arrangement is to assist the conveyance of heat into the gutters adjoining the drain. Rain gutters of normal form chambers which extend along the outer side of the rain are usually subject to the rays of the sun, and when the sun is warm enough, sufficient heat may be transferred through the wall of the gutter to. melt the ice resting against this wall. However, by providing hollow chambers of generally L-shaped form with one leg extending "into the gutter inwardly of the outer wall thereof, and the other leg extending horizontally over the outer edge of the gutter, the area of heat conducted material exposed to theray of the sun is greatly increased, and a much greater amount of heat may be transferred into the gutters to melt the ice formed therein to a much greater extent.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the fact that if desired, the' drain and its enclosing I sleeve may be detached from the rain'gutter during the summer months, and the drain opening may be covered by a sealing cover plate. A further feature of the present invention resides in the fact that due to the fact that the drain and its enclosing sleeve extends outwardly away. from the eaves of the house, it is much more easily heated thereby.

An additional feature of the present invention lies in the fact that the'device may be easily cleaned. The sleeve.'is normally provided with a removable side providing access to interior thereof.

v These and other objects and .novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a'side elevational view of the structure showing the general arrangement of parts.

FIG. 2 is atop plan view of the structure, the position line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the structure. I 1 FIG. 6 is a prospective view of the upper hand of a support for'the upper hand of the device illustrated. FIG. 7 of the drawings has a sectional view, the posiindicated by the line 7-7 of FIG. 5. H I FIG. Sis a sectional view similar to that of FIG. 7 but showing a modified formfof construction.

be used to close the rain gutter in the event the attachment is removed.

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic sectional view through a modified form of construction.

FIG. 1 of the drawings diagrammatically illustrates the wall of the house which is indicated in general by the letter A. The eaves of the house project beyond the house A and are indicated in general by the letter B. The roof of the house is normally covered with shingles, which are indicated in general by the numeral 10. lnwardly of the periphery'of the roof, there is usually an eave frame which is indicated in general by the numeral 11.

A rain gutter which is indicated in general by the letter numeral 12 is attached to the member 11 and extends generally below the edge of the roofing members 10 to receive liquid from the roof. The rain gutter 12 is normally provided with down spouts which either deliver the liquid collected by the rain spouts 12 to a suitable drain or else to the surface of the ground.

The present invention includes an intermediate rain gutter section C which actually forms a part of the rain of the sections being indicatedby the line 2-2 of FIG. I

gutter 12. A major point of difference between the rain gutter and the structure shown in the section C lies in the fact that this particular section of the gutter is bent outwardly as indicated at 13 to provide a wall portion 14 which is flat, rather than bent as is usual in the outer surfaces of the rain gutters. The section C is attached to the adjoining sections of the rain gutter by the usual slip joints or other soldered or sealed connections so as to form an integral part of the rain gutter.

The wall 14, as illustrated in FIG. 3 of the drawings, includes an opening 16 designed to' accommodate a down spout or drain member indicated generally by the numeral 17 which tits in sealed'relation thereto. A tubular drain 19 is sealed with respect to the opening 16 and leads to a discharge opening 20. As a result, the liquid in the rain gutter section C may flow through the drain passage 19 and may flow through the outlet 20. In view of the fact that the drain may be of material length, means are provided for supporting the drain as it will be later described.

An enclosing sleeve 21 encircles the drain 19, and is designed to heat the area encircling the drain 19. The enclosing sleeve 21 is preferably closed at its lower end 22, although usually drain means are provided at the lower end of the sleeve to permit the escape of any I liquid which becomes trapped within the sleeve. The

upper end of the sleeve 21 includes a projection 23 which extends beneath a portion of the rain gutter attachment C as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The lower end of the sleeve 21 is supported by any suitable means, such as by a post 24 having a bifurcated upper end 25 (see FIG. 6 of the drawings) so .that liquid passing through the drain 19 will flow to the ground. As will be noted, the point of discharge of the drain 19 is at a distance from the wall of the house, so that the drain may extend over a sidewalk, driveway, or the like and so that the liquid flowing through the drain 19 will be deposited at a distance from the wall of the house.

As a further support for the sleeve 21, a brace 27 may beprovided which is anchored to the house wall A as indicated on 29 and which includes a U-shaped member 30 designed to extend beneath the sleeve 21 to serve as a support therefor. The brace 27 is preferably made of expandable and contractible members so as to properly support the sleeve 21. As indicated in FIG. 5 of the drawings, similar braces 27 may extend on opposite sides of the sleeve.

As it will be seen from FIG. 3 of the drawings, the drain 19 extends from the rain gutter 12 at a point near the bottom 32 of the intermediate section C. The main purpose of the sleeve 21 is to enclose the drain l7, and to transfer heat thereto. The outer-sleeve 21 may be positioned in the path of rays from the sun, and accordingly the heat absorbed by the outer sleeve may heat the interior of the sleeve sufficiently so that liquid flowing through the drain 19.will not be impeded. As is indicated in FIG. 7 of the drawings, the sleeve 21 is provided with a top portion 31 which may be frictionally engaged with the channel shaped lower portion forming the remainder of the sleeve, and which may be removed to gain access to the interior of the sleeve in the event it is deemed advisable.

The top 31 of the sleeve is held in place by suitable means such as U-bolts 28 extending throughcross connecting straps 33. In the event the drain 19 andaccompanying sleeve 21 is removed during the summer months, the drain member 17 may be disconnected from thesection C,.and A- closure plate such as 34(see FIG. 9) may be attached to the gutter'section C to close the down spout opening.

As indicated in FIG. 7' of the drawings, insulation such as 39may be applied to one side of the sleeve 21, and a similar layer-of insulation 40 may be applied to the bottom layer thereof. The insulation is normally applied to the sides of the protective sleeve 21 which are not subjected to the ra'ysof the sun to any extreme extent. For example, the layers of insulation 39 and 40 would normally be on the North and West sides of the sleeve 21 v With respectto FIG. 8 ,of the drawings, it will be noted that the sleeve which is indicated in general by the number 21a is provided with a V-shaped upper extremity ll which is covered by a cap 42 particularly 'made of light absorbent material. The purpose of this arrangement is to heat the channel shaped compartment at the top of the sleeve and to accordingly heat the outlet from the rain gutter by rays of the sun.

A further feature of the presentinvention lies in the constructionillustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings. As

will be shown, hollow L-shaped chambers 47 are designed to extend into the gutter on each side of the intermediate section C. The heating devices 47 include the generally horizontal leg 49, and a generally vertical upright'leg 50 which'is designcd to extend. into the gutter 12 inside of the outer wall thereof. The purpose "of this arrangement is to transfer solar heat to the interior of theg'utter. Rain gutters are usually subjected to sunlight andheated by rays of the sun. In the present arrangement, the area which is subjected to the rays of the'sunis materially increased, as a result more heat is generated in the interior of the sealed compartment. This heat acts to assist in maintaining the flow of fluid through the rain gutters 12. u

As indicated in FIG. 5 of the drawings, the interior of the, sleeve 21 may be heated by heating coils 51 which preferably extend through the tubular drain 19 and then beneath the drain and longitudinally through the sleeve 21. The heating coil 51 is connected to a suitable I source .of current, and is preferably connected to a switch interiorally of the building which may be turned on at suitable intervals, or which may come on automatically during the desired hours of the night in order to keep the drain from freezing.

A modified form of construction is illustrated in FIG. 10 of the drawings. The rain gutter 12 may be provided with a central section such as D to which is attached a drain pipe 53. A sleeve 54 which is similar to the sleeve 21 previously described encloses the drain'pipe 53 and serves as a heating unit for the pipe. The sleeve 54 is exposed to the rays of the sun, and the interior of the sleeve may be heated above the ambient temperature when the sun is shining. Heating coils such as the coils 51 previously described may be used to supply additional heat if it is so desired.

The outer end 55 of the sleeve is preferably closed. The outer end of the drain pipe 53 angles downwardly as indicated at 56 to deliver fluid to the pipe 57 leading downwardly at an angle toward the dwelling A to drain into the down spout 59. A brace 60 may underlie the member 57 if desired, the reinforcing plate being supported by any suitable means such as the brace 61. The

structure is similar-to that previously described withthe exception of the fact-that the water drains down the regular down spout 59 rather than being discharged at a distance from the wall of the dwelling.

. An outlet 62 projects from the end of the drain 53 through the end 55 of the sleeve 54, and is normally closed by a closure plate 63. A plate 63 is hingedly supported at 64 and isnormally in closed position. A loop 65 is provided on the outer surface of the door 63 by means of which this door may be pivoted. In the event the down spout 59 freezes so that the water cannot drain the same, the door 63 may be. opened up so that the water may drain through the outlet 62. If the drain is not desired during the warmer months of the year, a suitable cover plate may be applied over the upper end of the drain pipe 53, or this pipe may be detached in the manner of the previous construction.

The closure plate 63 is held either in open or closed position by a spring indicated by the broken line 66. The spring extends from a fixed anchor point to an arm 67 on the closure plate 63.

In accordancewith the Patent Office Statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my improvement in drain spouts and while I have endeavored to set forth the .best embodiment thereof, I

- desire to have it understood that changes may bemadewithin the scope of the following'claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim: 1

l. A rain trough device for use in combination with a rain gutter, the device including:

a substantially vertical down spout to which said drain is connected,

an auxiliary outlet connected to said outwardly inclined down-spout portions and extending through the closed end of said outer housing, and a closure member normally closing said auxiliary outlet.

- 2. A rain trough device for use in combination with a rain gutter having an inner wall, a bottom wall, and an inclined down-spout portions.

5. The structure of claim 4 and including heating means in said housing exteriorly of said downspout.

6. The structure of claim 4 and including a heating cable extending throughout the length of said downspout within said housing.

7. The structure of claim 4 and in which said outer housing extends beneath said rain gutter.

8. The structure of claim 7 and including a heating element extending within said housing exteriorly of said downspout and extending beneath said rain gutter.

9. The structure of claim 4 and in which said housing .includes an upper surface oflight absorbent material.

10. The structure of claim 4 and'in which the housing includes a removable cover.

ll. The structure of claim 4 and including insulating means extending along the bottom and one side of said outer housing. 

1. A rain trough device for use in combination with a rain gutter, the device including: a down-spout having outwardly and downwardly inclined down-spout portions connected to the outer wall of said rain gutter, an outer housing encircling said down-spout and spaced from the walls thereof, said down-spout having an outlet extending through the lower side of said housing, an inwardly and downwardly extending drain connected to said outlet, a substantially vertical down spout to which said drain is connected, an auxiliary outlet connected to said outwardly inclined downspout portions and extending through the closed end of said outer housing, and a closure member normally closing said auxiliary outlet.
 1. A rain trough device for use in combination with a rain gutter, the device including: a down-spout having outwardly and downwardly inclined down-spout portions connected to the outer wall of said rain gutter, an outer housing encircling said down-spout and spaced from the walls thereof, said down-spout having an outlet extending through the lower side of said housing, an inwardly and downwardly extending drain connected to said outlet, a substantially vertical down spout to which said drain is connected, an auxiliary outlet connected to said outwardly inclined down-spout portions and extending through the closed end of said outer housing, and a closure member normally closing said auxiliary outlet.
 2. A rain trough device for use in combination with a rain gutter having an inner wall, a bottom wall, and an outer wall, the device including: a down-spout having outwardly and downwardly inclined down-spout portions connected to the outer wall of said rain gutter, said downspout having a drain connected thereto, an auxiliary outlet connected to said outwardly inclined down-spout portion and above the level of said drain through which water may flow in the event said drain does not function.
 3. The structure of claim 2 and including a closure member normally closing said auxiliary outlet,
 4. The structure of claim 2 and including an outer housing enclosing the outwardly and downwardly inclined down-spout portions.
 5. The structure of claim 4 and including heating means in said housing exteriorly of said downspout.
 6. The structure of claim 4 and including a heating cable extending throughout the length of said downspout within said housing.
 7. The structure of claim 4 and in which said outer housing extends beneath said rain gutter.
 8. The structure of claim 7 and including a heating element extending within said housing exteriorly of said downspout and extending beneath said rain gutter.
 9. The structure of claim 4 and in which said housing includes an upper surface of light absorbent material.
 10. The structure of claim 4 and in which the housing includes a removable cover. 